Quincy woman arraigned in sex-trafficking case

A Quincy woman was arriagned Friday after a multi-agency human trafficking investigation that alleges massage parlors she managed in Wellesley and Revere were fronts for prostitution led to her arrest.

By Jack Encarnacao

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Jack Encarnacao

Posted Oct. 20, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Oct 20, 2012 at 8:00 PM

By Jack Encarnacao

Posted Oct. 20, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Oct 20, 2012 at 8:00 PM

QUINCY

» Social News

She passed herself off as the manager of a massage parlor, but prosecutors say Zhen Lai was a madam, arranging appointments for illicit sex and transportation for the Asian women who performed it.

The 37-year-old Quincy woman was arraigned in Dedham District Court on Friday for trafficking women to perform sex in the Wellesley massage business she managed.

Assistant Attorney General Patrick Hanley said Lai paid the workers and arranged to transport them from New York and other places to Boston. Hanley said Lai also set up appointments for male customers.

Lai was one of three people arrested in a sting by the state Attorney General’s office and federal immigration officials tied to massage businesses in Revere and Wellesley and two defunct businesses in Burlington and Needham. The Wellesley location was known as “Sun Spa,” the others as “Bodyworks.”

“These various locations ostensibly offered massage services,” Hanley told Judge Robert Ziemian at Lai’s arraignment, “however in reality much of what their business was was illegal sex acts performed by women on men,”

Lai, charged with trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, was held on $2,000 cash bail after a plea of innocent was entered on her behalf. She was also ordered to surrender her passport.

Hanley said in court that Lai has an open case out of Malden on a charge of sex for a fee.

Also arrested Thursday in the sting were Joseph Girouard of Revere, and Wenjie Dong of Malden. Hanley referred to Girouard as “sort of the top person of the organization.”

Investigators allege Girouard was also involved in transporting Asian women to the parlors, and that Dong helped advertise the businesses on Craigslist and Backpage websites. Girouard was held on $5,000 cash bail, Dong on $1,000.

Lai covered her face with her hair and looked down for most of her arraignment Friday, at times leaning to hear a Chinese interpreter.

Her court-appointed attorney, Larry Tipton, did not dispute the state’s bail request, and said it would take Lai some time to pay it.

“She does have two young children at home,” Tipton told Ziemian. “They’ve been in the care of a neighbor since yesterday, and she’s eager to get home.”

Lai lives in an apartment at 46 Freeman St., a drab-looking multifamily building in North Quincy that city inspectors have raided in the past for overcrowding and illegal units.

Police executed a search warrant at the address on Thursday as part of the investigation. Search warrants were also issued and executed for email accounts, vehicle GPS devices and bank accounts connected to the suspects.

Lai’s arrest report says a large part of the proceeds from the massage business were received in cash, and that customers have admitted to purchasing sex for a fee. It was also noted that Girouard and Lai frequent the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun Casinos.

Page 2 of 2 - Lai is a native of Vietnam and a citizen of China, court documents say. Hanley said Lai’s immigration status is not entirely clear, though an arrest report indicates she has been granted green card status. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement are involved in the investigation.

Around 3 p.m. Thursday, police arrested Lai in the parking lot of President’s Plaza off Quincy Avenue, where she was sitting inside her vehicle.

During an interview at state police barracks in Milton, it became clear Lai was confused about the nature of the charges she was facing and why she had been arrested. An officer then translated while a sergeant explained the charges of human trafficking and keeping a house of prostitution.

“Lai became visibly upset at this point and stated that she didn’t want to answer any more questions,” the report reads.